UK Insurance News

Research from LV= Car Insurance has found that many motorists admit to acting erratically when they see a speed camera at the side of the road, thousands of drivers have admitted to either slamming on their brakes or taking their eyes of the road to closely inspect the speedo as soon as a camera comes into view.

Just over eighty percent of those surveyed said that their first reaction was to check the speedo instead of the road ahead and one in twenty react by braking suddenly.

Little wonder then that speed cameras are being blamed for over 28,000 accidents since 2001.

Braking suddenly under any circumstances puts the driver at risk of a rear end shunt from the vehicle behind, and the blame for these type of accidents are nearly always attributed to the driver behind.

Yet one in three motorists say that they have witnessed an accident or near miss due to the driver in fronts erratic behaviour when confronted with a speed camera.

The general consensus from the survey was that almost half of UK motorists consider that speed cameras are simply a revenue raiser for the government and the same percentage, though not necessarily the same drivers, believe that cameras divert their attention from the road and are therefore a hazard to motorists.

Interestingly one in ten respondents believe that roadside speed cameras increase the risk of an accident.

John O’Roarke, managing director of LV= car insurance, said: “Speed cameras have been a feature on UK roads for almost 20 years, yet the feedback from drivers is that while they may reduce speed they also appear to impair driving ability or at the least concentration on the road. As this report shows some drivers behave erratically and at worst dangerously around speed cameras. When driving it’s important to maintain a constant speed within the legal limits on the road. Excessive speed contributes to 12% of all injury collisions, and we’d encourage drivers to stick to all speed limits and not wait for a camera to reduce their speed suddenly.”